to a low birth rate. Now, supplied with great quantities of iron by their unremitting industry, they were moved to prodigies of multiplication.

The chairman of the Dail Committee on the Condition of the Planet Eire had spoken of them scornfully as equal to mice. They were much worse. The planetary government needed at least a pied piper or two, but it tried other measures. It imported cats. Descendants of the felines of Earth still survived, but one had only to look at their frustrated, neurotic expressions to know that they were failures. The government set traps. The dinies ate their springs and metal parts. It offered bounties for dead dinies. But the supply of dinies was inexhaustible, and the supply of money was not. It had to be stopped.

Then upon the spaceport of Eire a certain Captain Patrick Brannicut, of Boston, Earth, descended. It was his second visit to Eire. On the first he'd learned of the trouble. On his second he brought what still seemed the most probable solution. He landed ei

Reviews

On a planet intended to be the overflow world for Earth's Ireland, an inspection team from Earth arrive to find out what's taking the original colonists so long to become self-supporting. The problem is tiny dinosaurs with carbide teeth that eat the colonists' iron.
There is a solution. Large black snakes have been imported to hunt the beasts, but nobody wants the committee to see them, since there are no snakes in Ireland.
Things quickly go to hell.
The Irish dialect (badly done) is very grating, but the story is sort of sweet.

Eire; it's a planet for the Irish. Faith and Begorra, there's a problem. Dinosaur like lizards ranging from 2 inches to huge on this fey colony. Now a space faring Irish human civilization should be able to take care of these native fauna, and they were able to isolate the biggies on an offshore island. But.... The wee ones are a real bother. They have teeth made of boron carbide and a taste for iron. Chew the nails right out of your house and the staples from your shoes. Eat your tractors and anything else made of iron. Underfoot and destructive. Saint Patrick was famous for chasing the snakes out of Ireland, but on Eire.....well they were imported because they hunger for the little dinos. It's a real shock to the ambassador form Ireland who comes to Eire to see if continued support for the colony is warranted and--he doesn't like snakes at all!

His daughter, who has accompanied him, comes up with an crafty solution (you'll see) and all is eventually well on Ireland #2.

Kinda cute.

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